1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to processor architectures and, more specifically, an application program interface (API) for launching work on a processor.
2. Description of the Related Art
In conventional computer systems, the processing power of a central processing unit (CPU) may be augmented by a co-processor, such as a GPU. GPUs are specialized processors that are configured to efficiently perform graphics processing operations or other operations that would otherwise be performed by the CPU. Some conventional computer systems are configured with a hybrid graphics system that includes, for example, an integrated GPU (iGPU) disposed on the motherboard along with the CPU and a discrete GPU (dGPU) located on an add-in card that is connected to the motherboard via a Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCI Express or PCIe) expansion bus and slot.
Typically, in such systems, work on the co-processor can only be launched by the CPU. Such a limitation can result in several inefficiencies. For example, if the co-processor is to execute a series of related tasks, where task B is dependent on the execution of task A, then the CPU will first launch task A on the GPU, wait until task A completes, and then launch task B. In such a scenario, because the CPU has to wait until the GPU indicates that task A has completed and then initiate the execution of task B, many clock cycles are wasted, thus reducing the overall performance of the system.
As the foregoing illustrates, what is needed in the art is an approach for launching work on a processor in a more efficient manner.